Dublin Core

Title

A Visual Companion to Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon

Creator

Elizabeth Sokolov

Date

10/18/2012

Contributor

Elizabeth Sokolov

Contribution Form

Online Submission

Yes

Lesson Plan Item Type Metadata

Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11--12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W11-12.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Objectives

After Completing this lesson, students will be able to understand how interdisciplinary study—in this case, history, visual arts, and literature—can inform and enhance one's understanding of a text. After completing this lesson, students will be able to compare and contrast literary and artistic representations of the same historical event and gain greater insight into both art forms.

Materials

DVD player or Smart board to show documentary film.

Smart board to display paintings and photographs from the Oh Freedom! site.

iPad recommended as a way for students to magnify and zoom in on parts of the images for more careful study.

Xerox copies of the handout.

Electronic copy of the Till scene from Song of Solomon, chapter 3, projected to the Smart board.

Grade Level2

High School

Length

One 45-minute class, with parts of two or three other classes.

Overview

How do visual representations of Civil Rights events and African American culture inspire and inform our thinking about elements in Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon? Several images from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's online exhibition Oh Freedom! Teaching African American Civil Rights through American Art at the Smithsonian speak to the issues and themes of Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon. This series of lessons will enhance student understanding of Morrison's text by incorporating a study of the visual arts, particularly painting and photography. Morrison integrates two historical events—Emmet Till's brutal murder and the Birmingham Alabama church bombing—into her otherwise fictional novel. By using the images and resources on the Oh Freedom! site, students learn to compare artisic intentions and better understand why Morrison integrates the real into the fictional.

James VanDerZee photography Evening Attire, 1922 and Studio Portrait of Young Man with Telephone, 1929.

* Note: sign up for a login on the Oh Freedom! site to be able to pull the desired images into your "dashboard" for easy access during class.

Handout with questions to prompt analysis of the Driskell painting and chapter 3 of Song of Solomon (attached).

Procedures

Preparation: Grounding students in the historical context of the Emmett Till case

On the class day before students read chapter 3 of Song of Solomon, discuss the historical event with the class. The timeline entry on Emmett Till on the Oh Freedom! website is a helpful introduction. Then show at least the first twenty minutes of the documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, directed by Keith A Beauchamp. Students will hear firsthand testimony from Till's relatives about the victim and what happened leading up to his murder. Web resources on the Till case can be used to supplement, especially regarding the later developments in the case from 2005, when Till's body was exhumed. My recommendation for this age group is not to show the gruesome images of Till's body, however.

Assign students to read chapter 3 of Song of Solomon for homework. Before they begin their reading, give students an "activator" strategy by asking them first to keep in mind what they learned about Till. Inform students that they will be studying artwork made in response to Till's murder during the next class.

Looking at a painting made in response to Till's murder

In chapter 3, Milkman barges in on Guitar and the men in Tommy's barbershop, who are listening to the radio announcement of Emmett Till's Murder. Discuss the chapter with the class.

Project the painting Behold Thy Son to the class. Explain that David C Driskell (born 1931) painted it in 1956 in response to Till's 1955 murder. Use Driskell's words, posted on the Oh Freedom! website to prove that he painted in response to this historical event. Either now or later in the lesson, discuss the website's claim that Driskell "was well aware of the power of social commentary art and its use to stir the consciousness of a people." Do students think Morrison has a similar aim to "stir the consciousness of a people"? If so, in what way? Compare Morrison's goal to Driskell's artistic intent.

With the artwork still projected in the classroom, put students in small discussion groups and give them the handout (attached). Its questions guide students to think about artistic terms and techniques, such as light and dark, color, lines, texture, and composition. (Many thanks to Madeira School visual arts teacher Constance Mattox, who helped me devise these questions.) Circulate with the iPad, if possible, so students can zoom in to view subtle portions of the painting. Help them deepen their initial observations of the work. Have them take notes on the handout and answer its questions. Their answers will help them craft a thesis statement about the artist's intention or message with this painting. Students should report to the class their observations and thesis statements.

Following are teacher-generated thesis statements (Do not share these with students.):

"Through his use of light overpowering dark, Driskell argues that while Till's body has been mutiliated, his soul has been saved."

"By implying a chain of people supporting the Christ-like figure, Driskell argues that the horror of racially motivated murder can be softened by the notion of a spiritual community."

"Driskell argues, both through light imagery and the placement of supportive figures to the Christ-like Till fugure, that Till did not die in vain; he will inspire a call to action."

"Despite moment of light in the painting, salvation is not the dominant theme of Driskell's painting, which more focuses on the decomposition of the physical body, through the severed limbs, hollow rib cage, and bloated facial features."

Sample student group thesis statements that came from this class:

"While Christ sacrificed himself for the Christian faith, Till sacrificed himself to awaken the Civil Rights movement."

"By focusing on the gruesome body of the murdered Till, Driskell argues that Till cannot be ignored."

Discuss students responses and thesis statements as a class. Then reveal the Looking Questions and the background information in the About the Artwork section of the website. Follow up with more questions. How does your interpretation match up with the curator's (quoted below)?

"Using heavy, dark outlines and bright highlights so that his painting resembles a stained glass window, Driskell depicted a figure with his arms outstretched as if crucified. A woman holds out the body, embracing and supporting it---much like religous sculptures and painting of the Pieta---but also offering it uncomfortably close to the viewer, so close that its limbs are severed by the edges of the canvas. Although Driskell provided details suggesting Till's battered body and face, the sacrificial theme and religious symbols transcend the event. The painting connects those who have suffered injustices in order to save others. Driskell explained that he intended to portray "the sacrifice of many young lives from Christ to Till."

Which parts do you agree with? Are there some aspects you agree with but would refine or revise? Are there points you blatantly disagree with? Why? How has the curator's message influenced your own thinking? Did it spark any new ideas?

Returning to Morrison's chapter 3 with new insight

Re-read the conversation at the end of chapter 3, page 79, beginning "His first stop, Tommy's barbershop, was fruitful," until page 83, "Milkman waited until he could get his attention. Then they both left, walking silently down the street." [Post this dialogue to the Smart board.] See attached worksheet with questions to guide the class through this scene.

Because students had historical context in advance, they will quickly note that Morrison's account of the Till case involves rumor and skewed information. They will also likely determine that Driskell's purpose of offering hope to a community devastated by the Till murder is almost the opposite of Morrison's purpose in this scene. Through the worksheet's guided questions, students probably concluded that Morrison's message is that this racial violence begets conflict and a fracturing of the male barbershop community as well as increased fear for their own lives. What is Morrison saying about the life of a black man during this time period? That serious question sets up the dramatic passages and events to come, when readers learn that the life of the black male protagonist is at risk, as Milkman must fend off multiple murder attempts.

Assessment

This lesson can be given at the beginning of the year and can encourage critical thinking and analysis in other projects. Here, students gain practice in writing analytical thesis statements, which helps them assess the novel as a whole. The students were incredibly engaged during their study of the Driskell painting. For some concrete thinkers, analyzing the painting was easier than analyzing the text. This activity, therefore, gave them practice in writing strong thesis statements on their own. In my junior American Literature course, we go on to study Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I ask students to analyze the racist original illustrations to that novel and assess them on their visual and textual comparison skills in an essay. Integrating the visual analysis early in the year is preparation for our later visual and literary analysis.

Enrichment

Tapping into related images to enhance the study of Song of Solomon

Additional artworks in the Oh Freedom! website can enhance interpretations of setting and character in later chapters of Song of Solomon.

For example, when students reach chapter 8, wherein readers learn that Guitar must avenge the deaths of the four African American girls in the Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing, you can share images of resources shown under the Driskell painting on the website. These include shards of stained glass and a bullet casing from the Alabama church bombing. Discuss how, once again, Morrison integrates a historical event into her fictional novel. How does she influence our understanding of Guitar's militant behaviors? Do we sympathize with him more or less?

You might also display Allan Rohan Crite's painting School's Out. While the painting does not match the location of the novel, as it is set in Boston (not Michigan) in 1936, the lively portrait of African American girls in fancy dresses offers an image of an intact African American community in contrast to Morrison's fractured one. The opening passage of chapter 8 speaks of the violent exploded "little scraps of Sunday dresses—white and purple, powder blue, pink and white, lace and voile, velvet and silk, cotton and satin, eyelet and grosgrain" that torment Guitar, who is fixated on the murder of these girls. Seeing the dresses in Crite's painting evokes a kind of "before" picture for the murdered girls, which heightens the emotional reaction to chapter 8.

With part II of Song of Solomon, Morrison takes her novel to Virginia. Robert McNeill's photographs from his Virginia series in the 1930s can evoke visual connections to the novel. Spring Planting—Peanut Country shows an older African American farmer, which connects to the character of Macon Dead I, grandfather of Milkman, who owned his own farm. The photograph New Car portrays a young African American man proudly showing off his new car. This image evokes Milkman's cockiness with the car he buys on his journey.

James VanDerZee's portrait photography of an African American woman and man in fine clothing and accessories from the 1920s evokes Milkman's parents, who were able to better themselves economically. For visual learners in particular, dipping into these images can reinforce aspects of character, plot, or theme in the novel.

Subject1

English language arts, visual arts, history

Period

The Modern Civil Rights Movement (1945--1968)

Teacher

This year was the first year I introduced this lesson plan, though I have taught Song of Solomon for seven years. I found that by highlighting the racial injustices early and intensely, as in the study of Emmett Till and the church bombing, I better prepared the students for Morrison's introduction of the Seven Days extreme militant group, whose purpose is to kill innocent white people in the same way innocent black people were killed in racially motivated murders. By highlighting the conversation in the barbershop, which previously I did not focus on, students were able to note Milkman's apathy toward racial issues early, which primed them to notice his small steps toward maturity when he debates against his friend Guitar's involvement in the Seven Days. By looking at artistic intention so early in our study of the novel, students were better able to think about how Morrison follows through on that intention, and they were therefore more prepped to understand the "bigger picture" of the novel as a whole, which is about the scarring legacy of slavery on the African American community, even generations after it had ended.

Dublin Core

Title

Creator

Contributor

Contribution Form

Online Submission

Yes

Posting Consent

Yes

Submission Consent

Yes

Contributor is Creator

No

Lesson Plan Item Type Metadata

Standards

U.S. History (From McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks)

Standard 28: Understands domestic policies in the post-World War II period
Standard 29: Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties
Standard 31: Understands economic, social, and cultural developments in the contemporary United States

Objectives

•be able to analyze several artworks in relation to the Civil Rights movement.
•be able to describe various ways people fought for civil rights, their own or the rights of others.
•be able to identify numerous leaders of the Civil Rights movement and discuss the actions they took to establish civil rights.
•be able to synthesize arguments for their assigned side of the debate and counter arguments used for rebuttal.
•be able to demonstrate their technology skills to research the Civil Rights movement and the leaders of the search for equality.

Materials

•Student copies of the artworks being used
•Transparencies and overhead or LCD projection of images for class discussion
•Textbooks, classroom books for research on Civil Rights movement
•Paper or index cards
•Poster board or butcher paper and markers (optional)
•Internet access for researching the Civil Rights movement. (optional)
•One copy of Student Handout #1 for each student
•One copy of Student Handout #2 for each student or group
•One copy of Student Handout #3 for group or each student in Group D only
•Classroom Debate Rubric
•Persuasive Writing Rubric

Grade Level2

High School

Length

4 hours

Overview

This is a culminating activity for a unit on civil rights in the twentieth century. After doing research and discussing the topic of civil rights, students will participate in a group activity that leads to a debate on the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Students will be assigned a group to begin a jig-sawing activity. (Jig-sawing will be explained in the procedures portion of this lesson plan.) As a whole, the class will discuss the meaning of each artwork and what it implies. Students will use their research and the information from the class discussion to develop a well organized debate for the position that is assigned to them. The debate will be in the format of a Face the Nation--type talk show, addressing the best way to fight discrimination. One group will act as the hosts and develop questions to ask the groups debating. The groups will be Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the U.S. Government, and the hosts of the show. At the end of the activity, students will vote for the winning group by secret ballot.

Procedures

Day 1 and Day 2
1. Begin by assigning the students a research project on the Civil Rights movement in the Media Center or by using classroom resources. Assign each student a leader (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, or the U.S. Government) to research.

2. Discuss the major leaders of the movement and the very different actions they thought were necessary to achieve their goals (i.e., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through peaceful civil disobedience; Malcolm X through the use of force and violence; the U.S. Government and the Supreme Court through law enforcement and the use of military force).

3. Divide the class into four groups (A, B, C, & D) for a jig-sawing activity. (A jig-sawing activity occurs when each student is assigned a group, then is also assigned to a second group from which they must bring back information to their original group. The effect is that each student will be a member of two groups and will share the information he/she has with both groups. Each student is then responsible for something, and no one can sit back and allow everyone else to do all of the work.)

4. Give each group one of the artworks but do not provide them with information about the artwork. Pass out Student Handout #1. Allow time for the student groups to answer the questions for artwork evaluation. Once the group has completed their evaluation, number the members of the group (i.e. A1, A2, A3, A4, and so on for each group).

5. Have the numbered students meet their same numbered classmates at one of the artworks, (i.e. all 1s at one artwork, all 2s at another artwork, etc.). Then have numbered groups rotate to each artwork and complete the same evaluation questions for each artwork until the students have seen all four artworks.

6. Send students back to their original letter groups. Have students discuss all four pictures with their group, trying to find a connection. Challenge groups to infer what the connection is between these artworks.

7. Discuss the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, focusing on the many ways that people fought for their rights, including peacefully protesting, violently protesting, fighting, killing, and even taking arguments to the streets and to the courtrooms of the United States.

8. Assign each lettered group a part to play in the upcoming debate. The groups will be as follows: Group A---Malcolm X, Group B---Martin Luther King Jr., Group C---the U.S. Government, and Group D---the hosts of the show. Pass out Student Handouts #2 and #3, found in the Appendix. These handouts will aid the students in preparing their arguments or questions. Allow enough time for students to develop their arguments and to form rebuttals for possible statements from the opposing sides. Groups may make signs for their presentation of information during the debate.

DAY 3
9. Set the classroom up for a debate. Groups A, B, and C face the front of the room in a horse shoe design. Group D faces the other groups. Remind students that everyone has a right to their own opinion and they will respect that right. Everyone will have the opportunity to speak, whether we agree with them or not. (Discriminatory remarks and name calling will not be tolerated!) Remind students to talk, not yell, to get their point across. They will gain more respect and consideration from their opponents and bystanders through demonstrating control and finesse. Also, remind students not to interrupt the current speaker; their turn will come.

10. The teacher will highlight the issues spoken about by the students and determine if the students understood the arguments they gave and the arguments of the other groups. Have students vote independently by secret ballot for the group they feel presented their case the best, regardless of personal feelings. (This is tough for students and some adults to do).

Assessment

1. Debrief the class on the activity to determine student comprehension and achievement levels.

2. Students will write a five-paragraph persuasive essay taking the side of their choice. They must include why they picked that position. Students must use one of the artworks to illustrate and justify their opinion. See the Persuasive Writing Rubric for assessment.

3. Teacher can use the Classroom Debate Rubric for assessment.

Subject1

Social Studies

Subject2

Visual Arts

Teacher

Appendix

1. Student Handout #1 is a set of questions to be used by students when examining the artworks. It will help direct their thought process.

2. Student Handout #2 is a form to help groups direct the flow of their debate preparation.

3. Student Handout #3 is a set of suggestions to help guide the moderators as they question the three debating groups. For Group D only.

4.) The Classroom Debate Rubric can be used for grading the debate.

5.) The Persuasive Writing Rubric can be used for grading the persuasive essay.

Objectives

•be able to view and discuss artworks.
•be able to research background for each image online in groups.
•be able to create a narrative for each artwork.
•be able to discuss its relevance to the essential question.
•be able to follow-up with a blog post about a current person or group making a difference in a social and/or environmental justice issue.
•be able to find an image via Internet search that they think is inspiring and relevant.

Materials

Grade Level2

High School

Length

48--60 minutes

Overview

Students will answer the question, “Who makes history?”, via an examination of an intellectual, a celebrity, and an organized group of people. Students will realize they too have a role to play and will see that vision, fame, organization, and strength in numbers have all played a role in advancing the Civil Rights movement and may be applied in other social justice movements.

Procedures

1. Motivation: Introduce students to the artworks. Ask them to ponder what similarities and differences they see. You can discuss subject matter, theme, mood… (5 min.)

2. Segue from their responses to themes of leadership in the Civil Rights movement.

3. Discuss Background: intellectual leaders (Du Bois), inspirational celebrities (Muhammad Ali), and groups (striking sanitation workers). Discuss: What is an intellectual? What makes some celebrities more important than others? Why is there power in organization? (15 min.)

4. Divide class into three groups, one for each artwork. Provide links (if tight on time) or have students do their own research on the subjects of their assigned image. They should prepare a brief background presentation and an assessment of the artwork in regards to the artist’s ability to convey the importance/relevance of the subject matter. Show Student Assessment Rubric. (25 min.)

5. Each group will give a brief presentation to the class on their findings. They can create either an oral or written presentation. (10 min.)

6. Summary Discussion (homework, if not enough time): Use face-to-face discussion in class and/or an online group discussion of a debatable question: Who is most important to social change: visionaries, outstanding individuals, or organized groups? How does each contribute something unique to a movement? How well do the artworks represent the character of the individual(s) involved now that you know their contribution to the Civil Rights movement? [Possible responses: All three play a vital role and are interdependent. Du Bois is seen as proud and distinguished. Ali looks like alone but appears as a strong figure. The sanitation workers look united and determined.]

Extension:
Use an online blogging application to have students create posts with their opinions from the lesson and invite other students to comment. Links could be made to the artwork in the Oh Freedom! collection. Students could be asked to pick other artworks from the collection and comment on how those contributed, in their minds, to the cause of civil rights.

Assessment

Subject1

Dublin Core

Title

Citizens Making Choices: The Role of the U.S. Constitution in Peaceful Protest

Creator

Suzi Schmidt

Contributor

Suzi Schmidt

Contribution Form

Online Submission

Yes

Posting Consent

Yes

Submission Consent

Yes

Contributor is Creator

No

Lesson Plan Item Type Metadata

Standards

U.S.History (From McREL 4th Edition Standards & Benchmarks)
Standard 8: Understands the institutions and practices of government created during the Revolution and how these elements were revised between 1787 and 1815 to create the foundation of the American political system based on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
Standard 29: Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties

Objectives

•be able to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used in the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike and the 1992 L.A. Riots

•have developed a better understanding of how responsible citizens can follow the law as well as voice their concerns with government to help create change

Materials

Grade Level2

Middle School

Length

1.5 hours

Overview

Throughout U.S. history, citizens have protested against the government. The Constitution clearly allows citizens to peaceably protest. Students will evaluate the effect of violent protests and develop ideas on how to follow the First Amendment in “peaceably redressing grievances.”

Procedures

1. Teacher Background: This lesson examines two historical events in relationship to a citizen’s right to protest. The first protest examined took place in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. A group of sanitation workers went on strike for safer working conditions and decent wages. The strike turned violent, leading to destruction and the death of a young man. The second historical event studied is the 1992 L.A. Riots. On April 29, 1992, a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers (three white and one Hispanic) of assault charges in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. This verdict led to six days of city-wide riots that caused several deaths and extensive damages. Discuss the right to protest according to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Develop a common understanding of what it means to “peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

2. Provide students with color reproductions of the selected artworks or project the images in the classroom. Inform students these artworks depict two unrelated protests in U.S. history.

3. Have students complete an Observation vs. Interpretation Chart. In the chart, students separate what they can see in the artwork from what they can infer based on that observable evidence. Use their completed charts to spark a classroom discussion of each artwork and its representation of the historic event or era.

4. Discuss the responses to the artworks with the class and have students predict if these protests followed the First Amendment.

5. Guide students to appropriate resources to conduct additional research on the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968 and the 1992 L.A. Riots.

6. After they have researched the events, have students prepare a brief conclusion stating whether the protests were protected by the First Amendment and providing evidence to support their answer.

Assessment

1. After researching these events, students will be evaluated based on their knowledge of the issues, actors, and context of both the Memphis Sanitation Strike and the L.A. Riot.

2. Students will develop an organized strategy to address citizen concerns in a way that complies with the First Amendment.

3. Students will present and/or discuss ideas with the class.

Enrichment

1. Have students research the history of the local community. Find an example of a time when your community was involved in a protest. Analyze this protest to see if it followed the First Amendment. If it did not, what could have been done differently to protect everyone’s constitutional rights?

2. Have students research the Greensboro sit-ins, comparing the strategies of this peaceful protest to either the Memphis Sanitation Strike or the L.A. Riots. Have students provide evidence as to why the Greensboro sit-ins were so successful.

Objectives

•be able to make connections between literary and visual elements in a social studies context.
•be able to compare the visual content observed in these artworks to the literary elements of character, setting, theme, and symbolism as a way of understanding the context of the Civil Rights movement as shown in each artwork.

Materials

•Copies of artworks for students to view or LCD or overhead projection of images for class discussion
•Computer and Internet access for displaying images

Grade Level2

Middle School

Length

1--4 class periods (depending on length of period and grade)

Overview

Literary elements may be used to generate an in-depth discussion of an artwork, just as they are used to better understand and appreciate a work of literature. Applying literary strategies to viewing artworks with historical content forms a common groundwork for critical thinking and comprehension.

Resources

Artworks from the website:
•Joseph Rugolo, Mural of Sports, about 1937-38
•Ed McGowin, Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law Portfolio (Untitled), 1973

Procedures

Background
Review the background information and discussion prompts which accompany each of the selected artworks. View the artworks as individual works. Follow each artwork with its literary elements lesson below.
Process
View each artwork individually, applying the elements of literature to generate discussion within the civil rights context of the artwork. Focus on the viewer seeing the story, just as a reader uses text to understand the telling of a story.

Character and Setting
1. Teacher provides background information.

The characters are the persons that are involved in the action of the story. An artist visually conveys what the characters are like and what the characters do (the action) in the context of the setting.

The setting indicates the time and place that the story takes place. An artist shows where the characters are and when the action happens.

2. Have students view the following artwork: Joseph Rugolo, Mural of Sports, about 1937-38.

3. Have students respond to the following prompts:
•Describe the characters shown: Who are they, as a group and individually?

•How has the artist shown their occupations? How are they the same? How do they differ?

•Why do you think their faces are blank?

•What connection can be made between the blank faces of the athletes and the manner in which African American athletes were viewed and treated in the early years of the Civil Rights movement?

•How did the idea of “separate but equal” apply to the world of sports for African Americans in the early years of the Civil Rights movement

•What athletes do you know who crossed the color line in sports and risked the consequences of integrating major league sports? How are African American athletes viewed today in the world of sports?

•Put a name to the faces in each of the sports shown in this artwork. Name the African American athletes who are known today as the first of their race to win stardom as athletes in their chosen sport.

•Describe the setting of the characters as shown in this artwork: Where are they?

•When in the civil rights timeline do you think the setting shown in this artwork takes place? Why?

Theme and Symbolism
1. Teacher provides background information.

The theme is the message of an artwork. Theme involves a statement or opinion about the main idea. It differs from the topic, or main idea, in that the topic tells what the artwork is about, while the theme makes a statement or expresses the opinion of the artist. For example, the topic of an artwork might be war, but the way the artist creates the artwork would tell the viewer what the artist thinks about war.

Symbolism is a person, place, or object that has its own meaning but suggests less obvious meanings as well. Symbolism can mean the same thing to everyone, or it can have special meaning to each individual who views a work of art.

2. Have students view the following artwork: Ed McGowin, Equal Employment Opportunity Is the Law Portfolio (Untitled), 1973.

3. Have students respond to the following prompts:
•Describe the theme: What message is the artist attempting to express to the viewer?

•Compare the theme to the main idea, or topic, of the artwork. The artwork is untitled, but it is part of a larger portfolio of artworks. How has the artist used the title of the portfolio to convey his theme to the viewer?

•How does the theme of Equal Opportunity is the Law relate to the Civil Rights movement?

•What legislation has been enacted that addresses equal opportunity for all members of society? Have these laws been successful? Do these laws need revision?

•What events in the Civil Rights movement were organized to protest and/or protect equal opportunity as a legal right for all Americans?

•The symbolism in this artwork is depicted in the images shown. Describe the series of images. What is the same about all the images? What is different?

•Why do you think the artist made all the faces the same?

•Why do you think the artist added a different drawing to each face to make the images different?

•Tell how the artist has used a series of images to express his opinion about equal employment opportunity as part of the Civil Rights movement.

•Put a name to some faces of African Americans who have excelled in their choice of employment because of equal opportunity as law.

Subject1

Subject2

Dublin Core

Title

A.R.C. Canteen, World War I

Description

Henry O. Tanner's charcoal drawing depicts an exceptional event: black and white soldiers lining up together at an American Red Cross canteen during World War I, a time when most of the U.S. armed services were segregated, even in mess halls. The drawing is itself exceptional because of the viewpoint Tanner assumes. Sketched from inside the darkened canteen and behind the server, his drawing opens out onto a bright area where soldiers have gathered to receive their meal. The contrast between inside and outside, between light and dark, echoes in the faces of the soldiers. One black soldier in a line of white ones stands out. But there is more. Part of another black face appears in the upper corner of the window. In addition, the race of the server standing in the shadows is unclear, though he could be African American. Tanner's handling of charcoal in all three of these figures is more detailed than in the others. Unlike the broad hatching that composes the interior or the vague contours that suggest the white soldiers' faces, Tanner delicately modeled the central black soldier, giving him physical depth and detail. Although many American artists created images of wartime during their service, including Red Cross activities during World War I, Tanner is unique among them for drawing attention to the presence of black soldiers.

In late 1917 Tanner, who was already an established African American painter living in Europe, enlisted in the Red Cross at the rank of lieutenant. He was quickly promoted to an assistant director position after instituting a successful morale-boosting program for convalescing soldiers in France. In return for his excellent service, Tanner also got permission to depict some of the Red Cross's warfront activities. Although Tanner's dedication and leadership won him the respect of many white peers, he also experienced racial intolerance during his service. As Tanner recalled, he attended a dinner where a captain, who Tanner once considered a friend, launched into "a tirade against the Negro," disregarding the fact that Tanner was there.

In light of this prejudicial treatment, Tanner's drawing seems poignant. Accentuating the black soldier in the serving line asserts his presence. Yet doing so comes at a cost. In calling attention to the soldier, Tanner also separates him from the other troops, suggesting his own experience of isolation and difference. The drawing's perspective, rendered from deep within the tent, slso suggests Tanner's mixed feelings. While patriotic and dedicated to the war effort, Tanner is removed from the action, relegated to the sidelines.

Creator

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937)

Publisher

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Date

1918

Contributor

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins

Language

1. Read the title of this artwork. What does it tell you about the scene?

2. Whose viewpoint do we assume? What do you see outside the tent? Why do you think the artist took this perspective?

3. What differences do you notice in the faces of the people in line? What can you tell about the server?

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Title

Description

This pair of photographs vividly documents the highs and the lows in the long fight for African American voting rights in rural West Tennessee that culminated in 1960. In one picture, a young woman beams, her delight unmistakable, as she proudly displays her new voting registration card. The woman beside her smiles with some reservation. On this bright, warm day, as the sun flickers through the trees and sunlight and shadow play across the women’s faces, Withers captures the complex mood of exhilaration tempered by weariness, maybe even worry or impatience artfully disguised. The other photograph stands in stark contrast. A family poses in a line, as if for a formal family portrait, but outside a tent amid a barren landscape. Several young children, bundled against the cold, address the photographer warily. Their clothes are worn, in some cases too small to button properly, suggesting the hardship of their situation. Yet the two adults standing along with them express two strategies that might lead the family through their experience: the father, with a hint of a smile, suggests perseverance and optimism; the mother, with her stern look at the camera, suggests fortitude and determination.

While the moods of the two photographs are different, their subjects are closely related. In 1959, two groups of black citizens filed organizational charters for the Fayette County Civic and Welfare League and the Haywood County Civic and Welfare League. The Fayette County organization aimed to coordinate the first comprehensive voter registration drive among black citizens in the rural South. Trying to prevent African Americans from voting, members of the Fayette County Election Commission resigned, but the U.S. Justice Department named new commissioners to replace them. Hundreds of African American county residents, mostly sharecroppers, were forced to stand in line outdoors in blazing heat to wait for a single registrar to process all the applications. Eventually many received their voter registration cards. This triumph is the subject of the first image.

Some white residents retaliated, evicting black families from their homes on white-owned farms. After black residents voted in November, white landowners stepped up their efforts to throw black sharecroppers off the land, and white merchants refused to sell them the food and goods they needed. Hundreds of desperate families took refuge in tent camps. The second photograph was taken in the first and most famous camp, “Tent City,” which was set up on land in Fayette County owned by a white farmer, Shephard Towles. The standoff in Fayette County received national attention, but it was not resolved until early 1962, when a federal court forbade anyone from interfering with someone’s right to vote. Unlike the famous protests in Mississippi, Alabama, and even nearby Memphis, the struggles in Fayette County and Haywood County are remarkable because they were borne mostly by local citizens without the direct assistance of national civil rights leaders or organizations. By picturing these everyday citizens, Withers’s photographs speak to the dedication, trials, and triumphs of those who stood up for their right to vote.

Contributor2

Identifier2

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Title

Marian Anderson #1

Marian Anderson

Description

Painter William H. Johnson twice depicted what was a watershed moment in American social, political, and artistic history: singer Marian Anderson's concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939. Earlier that year, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) denied Anderson, a world renowned opera singer, the opportunity to perform at their concert hall in Washington, D.C., because of the color of her skin. The story of the DAR's refusal appeared in local, national, and international newspapers, causing debate and outrage. Washington civil rights activists, including lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston, organized a formal protest. Ultimately, they convinced members of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration to help arrange a free public concert featuring Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial, a site chosen because it would recall slavery, the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln's support for black freedom. On April 9th of that year, around the anniversary of Lincoln's Good Friday assassination, she performed before seventy-five thousand people assembled on the National Mall, and the radio broadcast reached millions. In 1956, Ms. Anderson reflected on her decision to perform: "I said yes, but the yes did not come easily or quickly .... As I thought further, I could see that my significance as an individual was small in this affair. I had become, whether I like it or not, a symbol, representing my people."

Having resettled in the United States less than a year prior, after spending much of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe, artist William H. Johnson immersed himself in predominantly African American subjects and adopted a consciously naive painting style. Based in New York and working for the Harlem Community Art Center, Johnson used newspaper photographs as sources for the 1939 painting, which emphasizes the presence of Lincoln, casually reclined behind Anderson. Far from a marble sculpture, Abraham Lincoln seems to be listening and moving his hands to the historic concert. Johnson painted the subject again several years later, focusing on Anderson's global influence and popularity. The European and South American flags and landmarks surrounding the central figure suggest that increasing international attention to segregation often helped to both shame American politicians and encourage them to live up to the nation's founding ideals of liberty and equality.

It is likely that Johnson also recognized parallels between Anderson's career and his own. Like Johnson, Anderson enjoyed greater freedom, opportunity, and success abroad than she experienced in the United States, where both artists saw their professional careers compromised by Jim Crow segregation, prejudice, and racism. Nevertheless, painter and singer both chose to return home to face the struggles of black life and celebrate their culture.

Creator

Left: William H. Johnson (1901–1970)

William H. Johnson (1901–1970)

Publisher

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Date

about 1939

about 1945

Contributor

Gift of the Harmon Foundation

Gift of the Harmon Foundation

Language

1. What is Marian Anderson doing in the painting on the left? Where is she?

2. How many liknesses of Anderson can you find in the painting on the right? Can you identify the flags and landmarks? What might they mean?

3. What do these artworks tell us about Marian Anderson?

Identifier

1967.59.318R

1967.59.657

Coverage

Forgotten Movements: Early Civil Rights (1896-1945)

Forgotten Movements: Early Civil Rights (1896-1945)

Contribution Form

Online Submission

No

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

tempera, pencil, and metallic gold paint on paper

Physical Dimensions

37 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.

Creator2

Right: William H. Johnson (1901–1970)

Title2

Marian Anderson

Date2

about 1945

Original Format2

oil on paperboard

Physical Dimensions2

35 5/8 x 28 7/8 in.

Publisher2

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Contributor2

Gift of the Harmon Foundation

Identifier2

1967.59.657

Artwork_Pdf

Dublin Core

Title

Booker T. Washington

Description

These two portraits use juxtapositions of light and shadow to present their subjects as self-aware, powerful, dignified, and serious men. One sitter seems to focus on a distant point, while the other gazes into the camera's lens, addressing the viewer directly. Both photographs were taken about a century ago, when racist caricatures of African Americans circulated in popular culture, the mainstream press, and early cinema. Such images often cast black people as comic or savage figures. In contrast, these sophisticated pictures, taken by a black photographer, allow us to explore the deep ties between African American portrait photography and the rise of the early Civil Rights movement.

Both of these portraits were taken by Cornelius M. Battey, who was an instructor and photographer at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and later lived and worked in New York and Cleveland, Ohio. The photograph on the left shows Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), an educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute. Washington was arguably the most influential African American leader of his era. In the face of racial hatred, segregation, and disenfranchisement, it was unrealistic, Washington contended, to expect African Americans to gain entry into America's white-collar professions. Instead, he advocated hard work, self-help, and economic improvement through vocational work within a socially segregated environment. Advancing these causes, he believed, would "uplift" the black race, and discrimination would gradually disappear. In 1881 Washington put this theory to the test, becoming the director of the newly created Tuskegee Institute. At the time of this 1908 photograph, Washington's emphasis on vocational education and accommodation to racial prejudice was being challenged by a new generation of leaders.

The portrait on the right shows W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), founder of the Niagara movement. Du Bois was one of the younger leaders who sought to confront racism more directly than had Washington. In 1903, Du Bois famously declared that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line," and he came to oppose the policy of racial accommodation favored by Washington, insisting that African Americans receive full civil and political rights. Du Bois argued that those rights would best be advanced by an intellectual and professional elite that he dubbed the "Talented Tenth." In 1909, Du Bois helped to found the interracial organization the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Washington and Du Bois designed the architecture of what would become the modern Civil Rights movement. Between them, they defined the two avenues of action that African Americans could take to ensure equality and justice for all.

Battey's photographs demonstrate the integral role of photography in crafting a vision of a new black self for a new century. The NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, between 1915 and 1927 featured many of Battey's photographs of other black statesmen, artists, activists, and community members, all of the images conveying racial pride and dignity. The artists and intellectuals they photographed displayed their accomplishments and marked their frustrations with the status quo. In the early 1900s, black photographers like Battey not only used their cameras in the struggle against discrimination but also participated in a broader art photography movement known as pictorialism. Emphasizing soft focus and painterly techniques inspired by impressionism, pictorialism elevated subjects and imparted an artistic sophistication. Such portraits, keys to how African Americans wished to be known and remembered, testify to the sitters' and the artists' dreams and aspirations.

Date

Contributor

Language

2. Why do you think Cornelius Battey had W. E. B. Du Bois look slightly off-center rather than directly into the camera? Why do you think Booker T. Washington had a serious expression instead of a smile?

3. How does Battey use light and shadow to draw attention to some things and not to others? What kind of mood or tone does Battey create?

Contributor2

Identifier2

Artwork_Pdf

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Title

Make a Wish (Bronx Slave Market, 170th Street, New York)

Description

Robert McNeill took this New York City photograph on a bright, chilly day in 1938. The sun cuts sharp silhouettes of three African Americans—two women and a man—onto a wall. One woman, wearing a feathered hat, glasses, a long coat with a fur collar, and gloves, stands back on the heels of her sturdy shoes and leans against the wall. The other woman, wrapped in a heavy winter coat, sits on an upturned potato crate and bends forward to read a newspaper. The man, wearing a cap and a dusty jacket, holds a pail. He stands propped against the wall, facing the women. Above him a billboard reads "Make a Wish," an advertisement for the popular 1937 film by that name.

As McNeill's subtitle indicates, these people are at the so-called Bronx Slave Market, a place where African Americans would wait for white people to choose workers for day-long jobs. Many felt this process was particularly demeaning, largely because it evoked the slave auctions of the past. Nonetheless, because many African Americans had an especially hard time finding work during the Great Depression, they endured this indignity, hoping to eke out an income.

Images of down-and-out workers had become commonplace in the Depression, thanks in part to the federal agencies charged with documenting the period. A 1938 Works Progress Administration (WPA) report could have almost described McNeill's photo when it sketched the Bronx Slave Market in this way: "There, seated on crates and boxes, were a dejected gathering of Negro women of various ages and descriptions... [As] the November wind swept and whistled through them, they ducked their heads and tried to huddle within themselves as they pushed close to the wall." This report helped effect changes, in this case by raising awareness and shaming the city into creating an official Day-Work Office for the area. However, even as such projects sought to help African Americans, they also promoted a stereotype. By showing black people as exploited laborers persecuted by racism, such descriptions suggested a passive role for black workers, when in fact many were successful in shaping their own lives.

By frankly exposing the conditions workers faced, McNeill's photograph takes part in this documentary convention. Yet Make a Wish also resists condescension by capturing the lighter mood created by the people awaiting work: the standing woman smiles as she looks ahead; the man seems to join her, smiling in her general direction; and the seated woman is immersed in her paper, perhaps scanning the listings for a job. The day may be cold, the outlook may seem bleak, but this is hardly the "dejected gathering" described by the WPA report. As a result, Make a Wish strikes a balance between the realities of the Depression and the workers' heartening expressions of self possession and amusement.

Moreover, unlike many documentary photographers, McNeill resists enlisting Make a Wish in any sort of propaganda. Instead, he uses irony to convey the ambiguity of the workers' situation. In referencing the movie ad in his title, McNeill invites viewers to speculate on its relationship to the photo. Make a Wish was an uplifting comedy in which white child-star Bobby Breen (named in the billboard) overcomes life's difficulties through lighthearted songs and youthful pluck. Does such a theme provide relief from life's troubles, or is it a wry commentary on futility? Do the workers seem wishful? Or are they engaged in the rigors of life? McNeill leaves the thoughts and motives of his subjects private—and the photo's interpretation to us.